The Heroic Trio

For the 100th anniversary of Emil Gilels, one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century, Melodiya presents an anthology of his pianistic legacy. “Titans of the piano like Gilels are born once in a hundred years,” wrote a Japanese correspondent in 1957; similar comments accompanied the musician’s performances throughout his performing career.
The performance of the young man from the Odessa Conservatory at the 1933 First All-Union Competition in Moscow came as a bombshell: the audience gave him a standing ovation, and unfamiliar people congratulated each other on the emergence of a genius.

Music patronage is something many musicians today look back to with deep nostalgia. The presence of rich, frequently aristocratic men and women who liked to spend a conspicuous part of their wealth on music, thus providing bread and opportunities to countless composers and performers, is regarded as a true blessing for art history and for those who lived it.

For the 100th anniversary of Emil Gilels, one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century, Firma Melodiya presents an anthology of his pianistic legacy.

Following a successful recording of Dvorák's Violin Concerto with French violinist Isabelle Faust accompanied by Jirí Belohlávek leading the Prague Philharmonia, Harmonia Mundi has returned from the Czech Republic with a recording of French cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras accompanied by Belohlávek and the Prague Philharmonia in Dvorák's Cello Concerto. The results this time are even better than before. As Queyras showed in the previous disc's performance of Dvorák's F minor Trio, he is a passionately expressive, technically faultless, and ever-so-slightly reserved player and his performance here of the Cello Concerto is all those things and more.

Apparently a staple in Russia, the music of Taneyev exists on the fringes of the repertoire in the West, something that should be rectified–and will be if this superb CD made by a starry cast of performers gets the attention it deserves. He’s a Romantic composer, but hardly of the heart-on-sleeve variety, since he was a master of counterpoint and firmly encased his Romantic impulses in a well-fitted classical jacket. Sometimes he makes you think of a more modern, pungent Brahms with a Russian accent.

Igor Stravinsky (17 June 1882 – 6 April 1971) is widely considered one of the greatest and most influential composers of the 20th century. The New Stravinsky Complete Edition (30 CD box set), the most complete survey of the composer’s works ever compiled, has been released to mark the 50th anniversary of his death.

Igor Stravinsky (17 June 1882 – 6 April 1971) is widely considered one of the greatest and most influential composers of the 20th century. The New Stravinsky Complete Edition (30 CD box set), the most complete survey of the composer’s works ever compiled, has been released to mark the 50th anniversary of his death.